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Greek

To be

γίνομαιStrong’s G1096

ginomai

Appears in 635 verses of the New Testament

In short

Ginomai is the Greek word usually translated “it came to pass”, “became” and “there was”. It appears in 635 verses of the New Testament.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “it came to pass”, “became” and “there was”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • it came to pass 64
  • became 27
  • there was 23
  • do be 22
  • came 19
  • was 18
  • having become 18
  • having come 17

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Luke 132
  • Acts 119
  • Matthew 70
  • Mark 51
  • John 48
  • 1 Corinthians 39

26 books in all.

Explore in Scripture
All 635 verses, by book
2 Thessalonians 1
2:7
1 Timothy 4
2:144:125:96:4
2 Timothy 4
1:172:183:93:11
Titus 1
3:7
Philemon 1
1:6
1 John 1
2:18
2 John 1
1:12
3 John 1
1:8
Greek dictionary

γίνομαι ginomai · to be

γίνομαι, Ion. and κοινή for Att. γίγν- (M. Pr., 47; Bl., §6, 8 Mayser, 166 f.), [in LXX chiefly for היה ;] 1. of persons, things occurrences, to come into being, be born, arise, come on: Jhn.1:15 8:58, 1Co.15:37; a first appearance in public, Mrk.1:4, Jhn.1:6, al.; before ἐκ (of birth), Rom.1:3, Gal.4:4; διά, Jhn.1:3; βροντή, Jhn.12:29; σεισμός, Rev.6:12; γογγυσμός, Act.6:1; χαρά, Act.8:8, many other similar exx.; ἡμέρα, Luk.22:66, al.; ὀψέ, Mrk.11:19; πρωΐα, Mat.27:1; νύξ, Act.27:27. …

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “be” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

BE, verb intransitive

substantive, participle present tense being; participle passive been.[The sense is to stand, remain or be fixed; hence to continue. This verb is defective, and its defects are supplied by verbs from other roots, as, is, was, were, which have no radical connection with be The case is the same with the substantive verb in most languages.]

  1. To be fixed; to exist; to have a real state or existence, for a longer or shorter time.“Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5
  2. To be made to be; to become.
  3. To remain.
  4. To be present in a place.
All definitions
  1. To have a particular manner of being or happening; as, how is this affair? how was it? what were the circumstances?

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.